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The whole bizarre tale became public because Gleason filed a letter asking the court to keep sealed anything about the matter in the files seized from Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who Gleason says called him.

That conversation likely led to Trump’s now-famous tweet, “Eric Schneiderman. Is he a crook? Wait and see, worse than Spitzer or Weiner.”

Gleason says he didn’t trust Manhattan DA Cy Vance, and so counseled the women not to go to the authorities — which is cynical to the point of enabling. Why didn’t he approach someone in law enforcement back then?

Heck, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was never a Schneiderman fan — why not reach out to him?

Instead, Gleason says he figured Trump was thinking of running for governor, and could be an ally in a position of power. But the lawyer must have known why Trump was a sympathetic ear; the mogul hated Schneiderman for investigating Trump University.

Gleason says that staying silent was the women’s decision — based on the “list of their options” he laid out. We respect the fact that options are very different today, but it’s beyond sad to think that Schneiderman might have been stopped five years ago.